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Thursday, August 25, 2016

Yet again, two hospitals have banned vaginal breech birth: Glendale Adventist Medical Center in Los Angeles and Dekalb Medical in Atlanta. And for good measure, Dekalb also banned VBAC and water birth.

Because of community outcry, Dekalb reinstated Dr. Bootslayer of See Baby Midwifery to do vaginal breech births and VBACs as of yesterday (Aug 24). Thanks to everyone for your calls and letters--we can make a difference!

I now want Glendale Adventist to hear from as many women as possible that a ban on vaginal breech birth is not acceptable. By removing the option of a vaginal breech birth, Glendale is forcing women to have unwanted and unnecessary cesareans. This is a violation of a person's right to bodily autonomy and of the policy of informed consent. Part of informed consent is the ability to refuse a recommended treatment--called "informed refusal." ACOG recently upheld pregnant women's right to refuse treatment, so this ban is particularly concerning.

I phoned Glendale's Maternity Services today, and they said that the decision came from the governing board of the hospital, not from their own department. In other words, the ban came from hospital administrators, not from the people who are actually caring for pregnant women.

To encourage you to write in or to participate in the rally, I am offering one ring sling and one infant scale sling as a giveaway. (See end of this post for details).

More information is available at Shawn Walker's blog--she is a British midwife, PhD candidate, and breech expert. She includes a letter that she wrote to Dekalb explaining why a ban on breech birth is unjustified.Entry rules:
Write or phone Glendale Adventist or attend the rally. Then send me proof. You could cc me on the email, send me a screen shot, a picture of the letter going into the mail, etc. Or if you attended the rally, send me a photo! Let me know if you'd prefer a ring sling or an infant scale sling.

I will choose the winners on Thursday, Sep 8th at 5 pm EST.

Contact info for Glendale: I advise contacting all parties and letting them know who else is receiving your letters or phone calls.

1. You may file a grievance with GAMC by calling or writing:
GAMC Customer Service
1509 Wilson Terrace
Glendale, CA 91206
(818) 409-8196